MOVIES

Roller-derby documentary joins Cream City lineup at Milwaukee Film Festival

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The documentary "Roller Life" takes a look inside the world of the Brewcity Bruisers, Milwaukee's roller-derby league.

Six feature films, including a new documentary on the Brewcity Bruisers roller-derby crew, and four programs of short films make up the Cream City Cinema lineup of home-grown movies at the 2017 Milwaukee Film Festival.

Milwaukee Film, in unveiling the Cream City lineup Tuesday, also highlighted other Milwaukee-centric films showing in the 2017 festival, including the centerpiece film "The Blood Is at the Doorstep," the documentary about the Dontre Hamilton family, and "The Dundee Project," a new short by Milwaukee filmmaker and "American Movie" focus Mark Borchardt.

The four short-film packages at the film festival include two programs of "The Milwaukee Show," typically among the hottest tickets at the festival; "The Milwaukee Music Video Show," with videos featuring local artists WebsterX, the Fatty Acids and IshDARR, among others; and "The Milwaukee Youth Show," featuring works by fledgling filmmakers 18 and younger.

Feature films showing under the Cream City Cinema banner include:

"Roller Life," a documentary riding along with the women on the rink in the Brewcity Bruisers roller-derby league.

"Life of the Party," Rubin Whitmore II's dramedy about a wedding reception gone askew at a West Allis bowling alley.

"Chasing Bubbles," which follows 25-year-old Alex Rust as he trades in his career-track life for a sailboat named Bubbles and a journey to the Bahamas.

Alfred Lawson, the aviation pioneer who went on to launch his own philosophical movement, is at the heart of the new documentary "Manlife," about the movement's last crusader.

"Manlife," the previously announced documentary by local filmmaker Ryan Sarnowski about a man who's been carrying the flag for the Lawsonomy movement for a half-century.

"Scott Road," a coming-of-age story set in 1949 Shanghai, produced by Milwaukeean Youcai Yang.

"Civic Art: Four Stories From South Los Angeles," a documentary, produced by Milwaukee-area filmmakers, exploring the public-arts initiative in Los Angeles.

The 2017 Milwaukee Film Festival runs Sept. 28 through Oct. 12. For ticket packages and more information, go to mkefilm.org.